page_title: Crew Return Vehicle
hierarchical_section_title: Crew Return Vehicle
caption_attribution_description: English: The X-38, a research vehicle built to help develop technology for an emergency Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station, descends under its steerable parachute during a July 1999 test flight at the Dryden Flight Research Centre, Edwards AFB, California. It was the fourth free flight of the test vehicles in the X-38 programme, and the second free flight test of Vehicle 132 or Ship 2. The goal of this flight was to release the vehicle from a higher altitude -- 31,500 feet -- and to fly the vehicle longer -- 31 seconds -- than any previous X-38 vehicle had yet flown. The project team also conducted aerodynamic verification maneuvers and checked improvements made to the drogue parachute.
context_page_description: The Crew Return Vehicle, sometimes referred to as the Assured Crew Return Vehicle, was a proposed dedicated lifeboat or escape module for the International Space Station. A number of different vehicles and designs were considered over two decades – with several flying as developmental test prototypes – but none became operational. Since the arrival of the first permanent crew to the ISS in 2000, the emergency return capability has been fulfilled by Soyuz spacecraft rotated every 6 months.
  In the original space station design, emergencies were intended to be dealt with by having a "safe area" on the station that the crew could evacuate to, pending a rescue from a U.S. Space Shuttle. However, the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and the subsequent grounding of the shuttle fleet caused station planners to rethink this concept. Planners foresaw the need for a CRV to address three specific scenarios:
  Crew return in case of unavailability of a Space Shuttle or Soyuz capsule;
  Prompt escape from a major time-critical space station emergency;
  Full or partial crew return in case of a medical emergency.
context_section_description: The Crew Return Vehicle (CRV), sometimes referred to as the Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV), was a proposed dedicated lifeboat or escape module for the International Space Station (ISS). A number of different vehicles and designs were considered over two decades – with several flying as developmental test prototypes – but none became operational. Since the arrival of the first permanent crew to the ISS in 2000, the emergency return capability has been fulfilled by Soyuz spacecraft rotated every 6 months.
  In the original space station design, emergencies were intended to be dealt with by having a "safe area" on the station that the crew could evacuate to, pending a rescue from a U.S. Space Shuttle. However, the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and the subsequent grounding of the shuttle fleet caused station planners to rethink this concept. Planners foresaw the need for a CRV to address three specific scenarios:
  Crew return in case of unavailability of a Space Shuttle or Soyuz capsule;
  Prompt escape from a major time-critical space station emergency;
  Full or partial crew return in case of a medical emergency.
caption: ISS Crew Return Vehicle – CRV (X-38 Prototype)
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